Indemnity Only

V.I. Warshawski is a tough Chicago private detective whose father was a policeman. Warshawski also has a law degree, is reasonably adept at karate when necessary, and happens to be a rather good-looking woman.

Approached by a mysterious client who wants her to find a missing University of Chicago co-ed, V.I. begins her search by discovering the body of a young man. Her investigation, now involving two mysteries, takes her into the records of a major insurance company, a leading bank, and the city's toughest and most corrupt union, as well as into physical conflict with some unpleasant types who want to discourage her efforts.

V.I. Warshawski has a wonderfully wry, warm way about her that attracts a varied assortment of friends, including Devereux, an ardent insurance executive; Jill Thayer, the teen-age daughter of a wealthy banker; and Dr. Lotty Herschel, who runs a medical clinic in a poor neighborhood. As she pursues her quarry they help and hinder her as only admirers can.

In Indemnity Only Sara Paretsky has given us a smooth and clever blend of action and insight. V.I. Warshawski is an exciting new sleuth whose exploits and personality promise to attract an enthusiastic new following.

From the dust jacket of the hardcover first edition, first printing.

Meeting an anonymous client late on a sizzling summer night is asking for trouble. But trouble is Chicago private eye V.I. Warshwski's specialty. Her client says he's the prominent banker, John Thayer. Turns out he's not. He says his son's girlfriend, Anita Hill, is missing. Turns out that's not her real name. V.I.'s search turns up someone soon enough -- the real John Thayer's son, and he's dead. Who's V.I.'s client? Why has she been set up and sent out on a wild-goose chase? By the time she's got it figured, things are hotter -- and deadlier -- than Chicago in July. V.I.'s in a desperate race against time. At stake: a young woman's life.

"The Chicago writer whose name always makes the top of the list when people talk about the new female operatives." -- Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review.